TURKISH PRESS REVIEW

FRIDAY JULY 19, 1996

Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning

U.S. envoy Madeleine Albright plunged into talks with Turkish and
Greek Cypriot communal leaders of Cyprus in a renewed American
attempt to settle the Cyprus problem in a bi-communal federation,
stressing the need to soothe relations between Turkey and Greece.
Albright met separately yesterday with Turkish Cypriot President
Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides.

According sources, Albright mainly concentrated on security
issues at her meeting with both Denktas and Clerides and stressed
the importance of the implementation of the confidence-building
measures proposed by the U.N. secretariat. The
confidence-building measures were accepted "in principle" by the
Turkish Cypriot side, but were rejected by the Greek Cypriot
administration. Sources said Albright, who was scheduled to
travel to Ankara last night via Athens, also stressed to her
Cyprus contacts that for a settlement of the Cyprus problem,
improved relations between Ankara and Athens were required. /All
Papers/

In the first two months of the customs union in 1996, exports to
Germany increased to DM 1.4 billion, the semi-official Anatolia
news agency reported. Total exports to Germany were valued at DM
1.409 billion while imports were DM 1.590 billion.

Meanwhile, the Turkish-German Economic Collaboration Council will
hold a meeting on September 24-25 in Germany to discuss progress
in bilateral commercial relations.

Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller said on Wednesday that she
welcomed the European Union's agreement on an ambitious trade and
investment plan for the Mediterranean, blocked for months by
Greece. But she said Turkey was still studying an EU declaration
on external relations in the region, which Greece says Turkey
must accept before the so-called MEDA agreement goes ahead.
Ciller, in Dublin for talks with Ireland, which currently holds
the EU presidency, said Greece's decision to lift its veto on the
MEDA plan was "a good step in the right direction." She said
Turkey's acceptance of a declaration by EU foreign ministers
calling on Mediterranean states to show "good neighbourliness"
and respect democracy for was not a precondition for
implementation of the plan. /All Papers/

Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan said on Thursday that
the local foreign exchange market was stable and predicted
interest rates would fall gradually.

"The foreign exchange (market) has settled and interest rates
will fall gradually," he told a meeting of his Islamist Welfare
Party (RP). Erbakan reiterated his plans to use "natural
resources" to finance government projects. Speaking to the group
meeting he said that the government aimed to alleviate poverty as
rapidly as possible. To this end, he pledged to transfer the
state Poverty Fund to local governerships to distribute to those
who live below the poverty line. "The Poverty Fund will be used
for the poor," he said. Erbakan also said that some of the taxes
paid by small traders would eventually be eliminated while the
state found new sources of revenue./All Papers/

A senior U.S. senator, Democrat Sam Nunn of Georgia, has praised
the crucial role Turkey is playing within the NATO alliance but
declined the opportunity to evaluate the significance of
secularism in U.S.-Turkish relations. The U.S. State Department
told Turkish journalists on Monday that secularism was not a must
for the continuation of bilateral relations. Nunn, Democratic
member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said: "I believe
that Turkey is one of the most important allies. She is extremely
important for NATO, and I think she'll continue to be an
extremely important part of NATO. America needs to pay a great
deal of attention to Turkey and to help that country in every way
we can."/All Papers/

Iranian deputy Foreign Minister Alaaddin Burujerdi arrived in
Ankara today for another round of meetings about recent border
attacks. Burujerdi, who brought messages from Iranian President
Ali Akbar Hasami Rafsanjani to Demirel and Prime Minister
Necmettin Erbakan, reiterated on his arrival in Ankara that joint
delegations should investigate the incidents at the border.
Burujerdi said that Turkey's Islamist-led coalition hopefully
would improve relations between the two countries. "We want to
have a visit by the Turkish prime minister as soon as possible
and also we are expecting President Rafsanjani to visit Turkey."
Burujerdi said that Iran expected a visit by Interior Minister
Mehmet Agar. "Reciprocal and frequent visits of state officials
are very important for the improvement of relations," said
Burujerdi./All Papers/

Two Turkish journalists, who were arrested by Russian secret
service officials nine months ago while crossing the border
between the Russian states of Dagestan and Chechnya, have now
been released. /All Papers/

Russia yesterday made its first official comment on the Refahyol
coalition that won a vote of confidence on July 8. The Russian
Foreign Ministry Spokesman said that the coalition represented an
unprecedented example in the history of Turkey. Russia would
continue to follow closely political developments in Turkey, the
Russian Spokesman noted, and expressed the hope of the Russian
government that friendly bilateral relations would be preserved
for the benefit of the whole region. /Hurriyet/

The Europalia`97 Turkey Festival has been cancelled on the
grounds that the agreement concerning the preparations for the
festival was not renewed. The preparations for the festival have
been going on for two years. Europalia Turkey General Director
Bulent Eczacibasi admitted that during the period of political
instability after the 1995 elections some delays had occured, but
added that failure to renew the festival agreement by July 1, had
not caused any serious omissions in festival preparations.
Eczacibasi pointed out that a great opportunity to promote Turkey
had been missed, and suggested that the exhibitions, concerts and
shows included in the high-quality comprehensive festival
programme could be valuable at other promotion initiatives.

Europalia is a cultural festival organized since 1969. The
Europalia Foundation promotes a different country at every
festival. /Milliyet/

During a briefing yesterday, Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was
told by officials in the Turkish Armed Forces that there was a
PKK terrorist camp right next to the Provide Comfort Military
Coordination Centre (MCC) in northern Iraq.

Officials pointed out that photos taken from the air confirmed
that the PKK camp was very close to the multinational Provide
Comfort base. The force, often referred to as the "hammer" rapid
deployment strike force, has been stationed in Turkey to control
developments in the region. This latest disclosure confirms
Ankara's concern that Provide Comfort needs to be re-designed
from the top. /Cumhuriyet/

Head of the Turkish parliamentary delegation visiting Moscow,
Mustafa Kalemli, was yesterday asssured by Russian Prime Minister
Chernomyrdin that his government was not about to support the PKK
terrorist organization.

The Russian Prime Minister said that the Russian government had
not been fully informed about the PKK, and that in future the
government would not allow PKK meetings in the Federation. He
added that all governmental departments would be notified about
the decision. /Cumhuriyet/

Turkish security forces killed nine militants of the PKK
terrorist organization in a clash in southeast Turkey, the
emergency rule governor's office said in a statement yesterday.
The clash took place on Tuesday in the province of Sirnak,
security officials said. Ten terrorists who escaped from the
separatist organization in Sirnak and Tunceli surrendered to
security forces. Twenty-six PKK members caught in Bingol, Bitlis,
Diyarbakir, Elazig, Hakkari, Mardin, Sirnak and Van, were
arrested. Operations still continue in the region. /Sabah/

The High Electoral Board (YSK) stated that local by-elections
would be held on November 3, 1996, to contest seats in all
municipalities and provincial assemblies which will become vacant
by 2 September. A YSK decision regarding this issue was
promulgated in the Official Gazette yesterday. /Cumhuriyet/

Following the agreement reached by Turkey and China on textile
quotas at meetings in Beijing between 15-17 July, it is expected
that Turkey's exports to China will increase. Foreign Trade
Undersecretariat EU Deputy General Director Munir Yetkin said
that the agreement was now effective. According to the agreement,
two-way quotas will be implemented in cotton and synthetic
clothing and ready-wear products. A meeting will be held in
Turkey in September about silk, for which Turkey implements a
one-way quota system. /Sabah/